Intellectual curiosity, innovation and ideas underpin Melbourne Medical School’s new
Research Training Academy.
It is a busy hub within Melbourne Medical School that connects leaders and experts in their fields with MD and PhD students who are establishing their clinician-scientist careers.
Launched in 2024, the Research Training Academy (RTA) has been designed to offer Doctor of Medicine (MD) joint degree students access to a range of opportunities and resources, ranging from career guidance and mentorship to sponsorship while they study.
“Melbourne Medical School’s (MMS) Research Training Academy is a ‘scholarly greenhouse’ that provides a supportive and facilitative community of practice for MD students undertaking joint degree pathways,” explains Professor Christobel Saunders, Director of Research at MMS.
The RTA currently supports MD students who are also undertaking a PhD, and there are plans to extend support to MD students undertaking a joint Master of Public Health (MPH) and MACH-Track Fellows — a prestigious cohort of doctors chosen to integrate PhD and research training with completion of their vocational training in accredited hospital specialties or general practice.
We plan to expand these supports to other clinician-scientists, including those in the MACH Track pathway and postdoctoral clinician-scientists, as well as other clinicians who are actively pursuing a research-intensive career says Professor Saunders.
Graduates of MD joint degree programs are also invited to act as junior supervisors and mentors. Senior clinician researchers and supervisors, appointed by invitation, will provide leadership and inspiration to the students.
When fully operational, the RTA will develop skills, such as communication and media training, that supplement traditional research training provided through the PhD program, and provide support to ensure student wellbeing.
Ways to maximise research impact, entrepreneurship, career planning and the development of teaching and supervision skills will also be embedded in the RTA.
Importantly, the Academy supports senior clinician-scientists to recruit talented MD-PhD students and to supervise, nurture and support the next generation of clinician-scientists.
“The RTA has many benefits. It informs prospective students of the prerequisites, how to apply for MD-PhD and what is involved. It helps students find a supervisor and topic for their PhD and informs them how to obtain a scholarship, and it [will] provide training in areas like media training and communicating your research to the public,” says Professor Saunders.
“It is also a forum for those at different stages of their clinician-scientist career to come together to discuss barriers and opportunities. For senior clinician-scientists, the RTA creates a great opportunity to interact with future clinician-scientists and to nurture those who want to undertake higher degrees.”
Find out more about the Research Training Academy: medicine.unimelb.edu.au